Vin Diesel's Marvel Movie Role Revealed?

During this weekend's Marvel panel at Disney's D23 Expo, Marvel bigwig Kevin Feige made no mention of having cast a voice for Groot, the giant tree-man in "Guardians of the Galaxy."

But they may have already found their guy: Over the weekend Vin Diesel, whose "Fast & Furious 6" has grossed more than "Star Trek Into Darkness," posted a photo of the lumbering member of the intergalactic team on his Facebook page. Diesel had previously mentioned entering into talks for a Marvel movie, which many fanboys misinterpreted as Diesel signing up for The Vision in "The Avengers: Age of Ultron." But now it appears the character is Groot, and the project is "Guardians," with Deadline reporting the actor is in talks for the role.

Arguably the most exciting, lively, hilarious few minutes of the entire Disney Studios presentation at D23 was the footage screened from "Guardians of the Galaxy," which featured a bit with too-tall Groot bending down and looking into the camera as part of a lineup. It's pretty amazing.

Diesel could add a lot to the role, even though in the comic books the only thing Groot ever says (at least aloud) is "I am Groot." We wonder if writer/director James Gunn is going to have him talk more, or if there will be a moment when Gunn lets us into Groot's head so we can hear the tree-man's inner thoughts. Diesel has a distinctive rumble of a voice, best put to use thus far as the titular character in Brad Bird's masterpiece "The Iron Giant."

Diesel's involvement only adds to our excitement for the movie, which looks like it could be the most distinctive Marvel movie yet, in terms of tone and visual style. Diesel would star alongside Chris Pratt, Zoe Saldana, John C. Reilly, Dave Bautista, Lee Pace, Benicio del Toro, and Glenn Close.

"Guardians of the Galaxy" opens on August 1, 2014. And it's going to be awesome.